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Eruption by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Scott Brick’s overacted narration kind of ruined this experience for me. BUT I could see this as a movie!
This is the kind of story you expect from Michael Crichton. The research on volcanoes was evident without being preachy or pedantic. As expected, the story kept me on edge, worried about the characters and the island.
May I say I hope this never happens to anyone. It is a scary concept. But it’s a super book and hopefully a great disaster movie.
Not available on Duolingo.
No longer used in most churches who gave up hymnals in favor of lyric slides.
I learned to carry my part while Dad sang bass,
my mother sang soprano,
my dear aunt sang a beautiful alto.
Another man in the congregation sang tenor (sometimes too low and awful an octive higher).
I could sing with those females but felt sad my dad was alone with his booming deep gorgeous vocal line. I did learn second soprano. I am privileged to feel competent on those female lines thanks to hymnals.
If a day isn’t going well, I can search for a funny and if not laugh, at least feel better.
Besides, that orange cat reminds me of the kittens we are going to adopt as soon as they are weaned, fixed, and wormed. And guess what! There is a black one. So we may again have a black kitty and a ginger! And hopefully we can find homes for the rest. There are always feral cats around here. We are trying to contain what we can.
The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution by Deborah E. Harkness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can’t believe that I am almost finished with this book. And though I am not a fan of textbooks or history, I have enjoyed this one. This is the proof of the research Professor Deborah E. Harkness has immersed herself in. Kate Reading’s narration was fantastic. Sometimes, my mind wandered, but her voice and the energy she put into the reading brought me back and intrigued me.
I have always loved science and understand it as an evolving study. But how did anyone believe Newton, Galileo, and their contemporaries? How did we get to the point of believing in gravity and the planets around us? X-rays? Vaccines that have obliterated smallpox or polio? The beginnings of science came with alchemy, witchcraft, and people who understood herbs and gardening. If we think there is a lot of conspiracy now, consider how the idea of a falling apple becomes a fact.
This book shows how the idea machine helped and hindered our science heroes and villains. I found it freeing to think that if we listen to everyone and do our research, even the lowest of people, a child? can lead us to a new understanding.
Still, I can’t wait to see the 5th book of All Souls. I miss the characters and the time travel. I feel I learn so much better when a story is involved. I wish I had taken notes and read the book in my own textbook with a highlighter pen. I may have to reread it with those thoughts in mind.
Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After reading the first trio of the All Souls series, I was excited to find yet another two books. Sadly,
Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator) is no Jennifer Ikeda, who read the previous three books. Don’t get me wrong, Saskia did a fine job reading; I didn’t feel like she acted out the characters as well as Jennifer did. On the other hand, this book centers more on Marcus and his intended rather than Matthew and his wife, Diana. So the voices of our old friends don’t need to be the same.
What I liked about this book was all the time travel. Not instantaneous but through memories. Marcus has a lot of memories of the early colony days of America. Among the things he remembers is how he was made into a long-lived vampire. I do love his story. And you see what a person has to do as a ‘baby’ vampire as his fiancé has decided to become a baby to live as long as her mate. Deborah Harkness’s vampires seem different than other authors. I’m much more into the witches but that wasn’t the main subject this time.
What this series is best at is bringing in science and historical references. I think the author has researched these topics thoroughly. Yet I don’t feel her story suffers from factual diarrhea.
Since reading this book I looked for more of the series. I picked up The Jewel House thinking it was a part. I’m nearly finished reading it, and, sure enough, Ms. Harkness has done a lot of studying! But it wasn’t a part of the series. It is a stand-alone textbook of sorts. That review will come in a few days. Meanwhile, I found out she wrote book 5. I had to preorder it. I think it comes out after the 15th. I can’t wait!
I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading books 4 and 5. And if you like a little history of science, try ‘The Jewel House.’
A friend and I were chatting. The relentless sign came across the top of the screen: Low bandwidth. Yeah, our internet is unreliable. The song ‘Breaking Up Is Hard to Do’ echoed in my empty earworm filled brain.
“Yeah,” I countered aloud, “Breaking Up Is Easy on our Internet.”
But finished at last!
I’ll be sealing the Dock and the Lighthouse tomorrow and setting up new Diamond Paintings. It’s too hot for anything else.
Try to keep cool everyone!
So the groove is coming back!
But…
Remember how Linda had the coloring prompt? It kind of faded for a lot of us. I still want to, but find the setting up and needing a place to comfortably color difficult. Instead, my husband got into the coloring apps. He even found an app that does surprise pictures. There is no outline of shapes in the picture. You just tap the number of the corresponding color. Eventually, there’s a picture. It’s funny/cute when he and I are coloring together. Retirement has it’s surprises!❤️
After I tire of a game or two, while listening to my audiobook, I start coloring. I started the above last night. My eyes got tired so I finished this morning even before coffee. ‘Masquerade’ from Phantom of the Opera played in my head as I finished.
Though I’ve not done much knitting, I did manage 45 minutes on the stationary bike then played a couple pieces on the piano. Yay!
Darswords 
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